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MAZ-SPORTavto Team to bring new racing truck for Dakar 2020

MINSK, 23 January (BelTA) – MAZ-SPORTavto Team will bring new racing truck with a hood for Dakar 2020, MAZ-SPORTavto Team leader and pilot Sergei Vyazovich told a press conference in BelTA’s press center.

“Next year we are planning to use MAZ trucks with a hood at Dakar. It will be a completely new vehicle, with new nodes. We have a year to test everything and see the new MAZ truck in other races,” Sergei Vyazovich said.

The hooded MAZ truck was presented in Minsk before the Dakar 2019 rally. The manufacturer will need some time to give it some finishing touches and is planning to field this truck for official competitions in the spring.

“The new MAZ has nodes placed differently: automatic transmission, different  frame and many other changes that we need to further test in competitions. We are not yet sure what the tests will show but we will make every effort to make ensure this experience is positive,” Sergei Vyazovich noted.

As it was reported earlier, the truck has an automatic gearbox, different frame. The position of wheels and fuel tank has been changed. The truck is 300kg lighter than its predecessor, which makes it easier for the pilot to control the vehicle.

The pilot who will drive the new racing truck will be named by the end of the year.

MAZ-SPORTavto Team had three crews at Dakar 2019. Sergei Vyazovich’s crew came in sixth, and Alexander Vasilevsky’s placed eighth. Aleksei Vishnevsky was 11th.

MAZ-SPORTavto Team took part in Dakar rally for the eighth time. The 2019 Dakar race ran solely in Peru over a total of 5,000 kilometers and 11 days. More than half of the route ran through sandy roads with huge dunes and other obstacles.

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